RoboChop Web-Controlled Robotic Cutting Arm Coming to CeBit 2015

An interesting installation is coming to CeBit 2015 when it kicks off in Germany this March. The installation is called RoboChop and it is sponsored by the GFT Group as part of the Code_n competition at the show. RoboChop is an industrial robotic arm with a hot wire cutter that is controlled by people from the internet.

Control is done using a web app and the robotic arm will carve whatever the user wants out of a block of polystyrene measuring 50 x 50 x 50 cm. After the robotic arm cuts the foam block into a chair, abstract art, or something else it will be boxed up and mailed to the person who created it online.

There will be four of these robotic cutting arms at the show with 2000 blocks to mow through. You can bet they will be spoken for quickly once the floodgates open. It’s not clear at this point if the robotically cut 3D blocks are free or if there is a cost associated with the process. It’s also not clear exactly how they will keep questionable items from being cut from the show floor.